Runway jack



Sept. 13, 1966 A. E. LINCOLN RUNWAY JACK Filed Oct. 5, 1964 l vu,

ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,272,284 RUNWAY JACK Angela E. Lincoln, R0. BOX 5400, Metro Station, Los Angeles, Calif. Filed Oct. 5, 1964, Ser. No. 401,545 2 Claims. (Cl. 182-224) This invention relates to a runway jack.

In the transporting of cement or concrete, in handor power-operated carts, to areas to be paved thereby, run- Ways are provided, the carts using the same for transporting the paving material for dumping the same onto said areas. Devices known as jacks, are set up in spaced relation so they may support runway boards which span between them and on which the carts travel. Such prior jacks have a xed height, so the same may be too h-igh or too low for pavement of diiferent thicknesses, or two or more sets of jacks of different heights must be stocked so those of suitable height may be selected from stock. Runways may be quite long, frequently a hundred or more feet and require ten or more jacks. It is, therefore, uneconomical to stock and transport such different heights of jacks.

An object of the present invention is to obviate the need for several sets of jacks, as above explained, and to provide runway jacks that are height-adjustable to be suitable for use in the paving of slabs of varying thickness.

Another object of the invention is to provide a runway jack with telescoping support legs that are readily cleaned of clinging cement when removed from the poured slab before the cement or concrete had set.

This invention also has for its objects to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use easily installed in a working position and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of Vgeneral superiority and serviceability.

The above objects are realized in a runway jack that comprises a single :cross member on which the ends of runway boards are adapted to be supported, and two similar legs, one at each end of said member. Each leg comprises a fixed tubular member of preferably rectangular cross section and is open at the bottom, a tubular member of the same cross-sectional form and having a loose, sliding iit in the fixed member, is of the same length as the fixed member. Thus, when the sliding member is fully retracted into the xed member their bottoms are flush. A b'oltextends transversely through the two members, the sliding member being provided with preferably three vertically spaced pairs of bolt holes for said bolt, which extends through a single aligned pair of holes in the xed member. The bottom of the sliding leg member is closed by a plate or plug so that cement cannot enter into the latter member.

The sliding leg mem-ber may be outside the fixed member rather than inside, the same constituting a mere reversal of the legs above characterized. Also, the adjustable leg member may have its closure plate extended, as desired, to increase the base area thereof.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the following description and which is based on the accompanying drawing. However, said drawing merely shows, and the following description merely describes, one embodiment of the present invention, which is given by way of illustration or example only.

In the drawing, like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away and with one leg in section, of a runway jack according to Patented Sept. 13, 1966 "ice the present invention, the same being in the condition of minimum height of the jack.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation-al view, partly in vertical section showing said jack adjusted to maximum hei-ght, and also showing a fragment of a runway board in operative position.

FIG. 3 is a broken end view of the upper portion of the runway jack, showing the manner of connecting runw-ay boards thereto.

The runway jack that is illustrated comprises, generally, a longitudinal channel 5, and an adjustable support leg 6 extending from each end of said channel, said channel and leg being advantageously formed as aluminum extrusions.

The channel 5 has its side flanges 10 depending from the web 11 thereof, the channel space 12, thereby, facing downwardly.

The support legs 6 are alike, each comprising a fixed tubular member .13, a tubular member 14 of the same cross-sectional form as the members 13 and slidably tted thereinto, and a bolt 15 extends through the two members 13 and 14 to tixedly connect them together.

In this case, the leg member 13 is formed as a rectangular tube having a width dimension either equal to the width of the channel or of the channel space 12. The former is shown and is preferred. Byremoving the upper portions of the walls 16 of members 13, said member may be notched into the end of channel 5, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The connection between said channel and the leg tu'be 13 is made permanent and rigid by welding the same where access for weld metal may be had. Nearer its lower end 17 than the end secured to the channel, is provided a pair of aligned holes 18 in the tube walls 16. It will be noted that the width of walls 16 is less than that of the two other walls 19 of the tubes 13, the width of the web 1 1 being substantially the same.

The tubular leg member 14,- as above indicated, has a sliding or telescoping fit within the leg member 13, and has a cross-sectional form similar to that of the latter member. Said member 14 has Walls 20 of a size to slidingly engage the walls 16, `and walls 21 of a size to slidingly engage the walls 19. The t is fairly loose, yet close enough to exclude material, such as cement, from entering between the tube walls. The lower end of t-ube 14 is provided with a closure plate 22. The overall length of tube 14 is substantially the same as that of tube 13, the former rbeing nested into the latter, Vas limited by the channel web 11, and the plate 22 being flush with the tube end 17. Three pairs of longitudinally spaced holes 23 are provided in the tube walls 20.

The above describes legs 13 that have inner telescoping members. It will be clear without further explanation that the leg members or parts 13 and 14 may be reversed with the latter outside the former. Also, as shown, the closure plate 22 may have an area larger than the leg member to which it is welded to increase the base area. In this case, the plates 22 are enlarged in a lateral direction toward each other.

The bolt 15 for each leg may be in the form of a carriage bolt with a head 24 that engages one wall 16 of leg part y13, and provided with a nut 25 on the other end of the bolt and engaged with the opposite wall 16 of said leg part 13. Depending on which pair of holes the bolt 15 extends, depends the adjusted height of the leg, as is clear from FIG. 2.

It will be understood that with the low adjustment of the legs, as in FIG. 1, cement may be poured to the level 26; the next higher adjustment enables pouring to the level 27; and in the high adjustment, as in FIG. 2, cement may be poured to the level 28. In al1 such pobeing adjacent to a flange 10 of the channel.

sitions, the cement is excluded from the interior of the legs, except through holes 23, when the legs are extended.

These holes are of such small size, that cement cannot pour therethrough but, rather, will plug them to prevent cement entering the legs. Such plugs of cement are easily removed or ushed away to clear the holes.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the manner of separably connecting the ends of runway boards 30 to the jacks above described. Each jack, at each end of its channel 5, is provided with a pair of holes 31 in the Web11, each hole The ends of the boards 30 are, in practice, rested upon the channel web with the boards that rest upon the channel extending in opposite directions, as in FIG. 3. Each board end is provided with holes 32 that register with one hole 31 of each pair thereof. A bolt 33 is entered through each pair of matching or registering holes 31 and 32, as shown, said bolts, thereby holding the boards 30 in operative position spanning between adjacent jacks.

More than two pairs of holes 31 may be provided in the jack, especially in cases where the boards 30 comprise planks of widths that are less than the length of the channel 5 and two or more planks are used in side-by-side relation. In any case, the holes 31 may be provided in any number for bolts to hold the ends of planks against shifting from operative spanning position.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described what is now contemplated to be the best mode of carrying out the invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modication without departing from the spirit .and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is not desired to restrict the invention to the particular form of construction illustrated and described, but t-o cover all modications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A runway jack comprising:

(a) an elongated metal channel member having two side flanges connected along their upper longitudinal edges by a web substantially wider than the height of said flanges,

(b) said web, spaced inwardly from each end, being provided with two transversely spaced holes that are equally spaced from said upper longitudinal edges of the web,

(c) two tubular metal leg members, of rectangular cross-sectional form, fitted and permanently a'ixed to said channel member, one at each end of said member, the opposite wider walls of said leg member having upper extensions that fit between the channel anges and are in bear-ing engagement with the under face of the channel web, and the opposed narrower walls of the rectangular leg members hav- Il ing their upper edges in bearing engagement with the lower edges of the channel flanges, said narrower walls being Wider than the spacing of the mentioned holes from the ends of the channel member, said holes thereby opening into the interiors of said leg members,

(d) a rectangular metal leg member adjustably telescopically fitted into said interior of each aixed leg member, the rectangular size of the latter leg members providing a loose sliding t of the respective pairs of leg members, the axed and adjustable leg members being approximately the same length,

(e) a metal plate axed to the lower end of each telescopic leg member to close said end, and

(f) means to separably fasten the adjusted position of the pairs of leg members to space runway boards from a support surface for the jack,

(-g) the mentioned holes in the web of the channel being adapted to receive downwardly projecting bolts that are provided adjacent the ends of said runway boards when the board ends rest upon the channel web, and are disposed on transverse spacing that is in register with the longitudinal spacing of the pairs of transversely spaced holes.

2. A runway jack according to claim 1 in which the fastening means of each pair of telescopically fitted leg members comprises:

(-a) a single transverse bolt,

(b) the ali'ixed leg member having one pair of aligned holes in two opposed sides and located `adjacent the lower end of said leg member, and

(c) the telescopic leg members having at least two vertically spaced pairs of aligned holes,

(d) said bolt extending through the first-mentioned pair of holes and one of the vertically spaced pairs -of holes to separably lock the height adjustment of said leg members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 591,208 10/1897 Carrick 182-184 X 1,018,658 2/1912 Fuller 182-183 2,738,832 3/1'956` Torkelson 182-222 X 2,830,852 4/1958 Fritz 182-204 2,961,061 11/1960 Buckles 182-181 3,080,015 3/1963 Devender 182-181 FOREIGN PATENTS 523,802 11/1953 Belgium.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

REINALDO P. MACHADO, Examiner. 

1. A RUNWAY JACK COMPRISING: (A) AN ELONGATED METAL CHANNEL MEMBER HAVING TWO SIDE FLANGES CONNECTED ALONG THEIR UPPER LONGITUDINAL EDGES BY A WEB SUBSTANTIALLY WIDER THAN THE HEIGHT OF SAID FLANGES, (B) SAID WEB, SPACED INWARDLY FROM EACH END, BEING PROVIDED WITH TWO TRANSVERSELY SPACED HOLES THAT ARE EQUALLY SPACED FROM SAID UPPER LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF THE WEB, (C) TWO TUBULAR METAL LEG MEMBERS, OF RECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTIONAL FORM, FITTED AND PERMANENTLY AFFIXED TO SAID CHANNEL MEMBER, ONE AT EACH END OF SAID MEMBER, THE OPPOSITE WIDER WALLS OF SAID LEG MEMBER HAVING UPPER EXTENSIONS THAT FIT BETWEEN THE CHANNEL FLANGES AND ARE IN BEARING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE UNDER FACE OF THE CHANNEL WEB, AND THE OPPOSED NARROWER WALLS OF THE RECTANGULAR LEG MEMBERS HAVING THEIR UPPER EDGES IN BEARING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LOWER EDGES OF THE CHANNEL FLANGES, SAID NARROWER WALLS BEING WIDER THAN THE SPACING OF THE MENTIONED HOLES FROM THE ENDS OF THE CHANNEL MEMBER, SAID HOLES THEREBY OPENING INTO THE INTERIORS OF SAID LEG MEMBERS, (D) A RECTANGULAR METAL LEG MEMBER ADJUSTABLY TELESCOPICALLY FITTED INTO SAID INTERIOR OF EACH AFFIXED LEG MEMBER, THE RECTANGULAR SIZE OF THE LATTER LEG MEMBERS PROVIDING A LOOSE SLIDING FIT OF THE RESPECTIVE PAIRS OF LEG MEMBERS, THE AFFIXED AND ADJUSTABLE LEG MEMBERS BEING APPROXIMATELY THE SAME LENGTH, (E) A METAL PLATE AFFIXED TO THE LOWER END OF EACH TELESCOPIC LEG MEMBER TO CLOSE SAID END, AND (F) MEANS TO SEPARATELY FASTEN THE ADJUSTED POSITION OF THE PAIRS OF LEG MEMBERS TO SPACE RUNWAY BOARDS FROM A SUPPORT SURFACE FOR THE JACK, (G) THE MENTIONED HOLES IN THE WEB OF THE CHANNEL BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE DOWNWARDLY PROJECTING BOLTS THAT ARE PROVIDED ADJACENT THE ENDS OF SAID RUNWAY BOARDS WHEN THE BOARD ENDS REST UPON THE CHANNEL WEB, AND ARE DISPOSED ON TRANSVERSE SPACING THAT IS IN REGISTER WITH THE LONGITUDINAL SPACING OF THE PAIRS OF TRANSVERSELY SPACED HOLES. 